At the heart of the emerging capital was the great church of St Paul, and around it, upriver from the grim pile of the Conqueror's Tower, were wharves thick with ships loaded with wool going out, wine, furs or silks coming in. In this teeming world, Becket's father strutted, owner of one of the grandest houses in Cheapside. The truth is Becket was a real Londoner, with a natural flair for doing what Londoners like doing most, the getting and spending of money, spectacle, costume and, despite his notoriously delicate gut, Becket also seems to have enjoyed good food and drink. He was street smart and he was book smart. In short, from the get go, Becket was a big league performer. He was a player. They were in a way, a match of opposites. Becket was older by a decade and, as Chancellor, willing to deal with the administrative detail that bored the King. Becket was tall, self-contained, his forehead creased with frown lines. The King was square-shaped, packed with hectic passion, a real Plantagenet powerhouse.


在这座新兴城市的中心，坐落着圣保罗大教堂。而在那周围，沿着阴森可怖的伦敦塔向上游前进，是满载羊毛离港和满载着酒。皮毛与丝绸进港的繁忙码，在这个物产富饶的国度。贝克特的父亲财大气粗，坐拥戚普塞街最宏伟的建筑之一。其实贝克特是个土生土长的伦敦人，保有伦敦人的一贯作风，即花钱于表演和服装之上。除去这些众所周知的高雅活动，贝克特还乐于享受美食与美酒。他不仅处事圆滑，而且才华横溢，简而言之，从一开始，贝克特就注定是一位杰出的领导者。他是一名弄权者，从某种程度来说，两人截然相反。贝克特比亨利年长十岁，身为大法官，他乐于处理让国王厌倦不堪的行政琐事。贝克特身材高大，独立自主，总是眉头紧锁，而国王则身材伟岸，充满激情，一位金雀花王室的真正王者。